Dance to the Top
by Kenta Divina
Summary: Shall we dance on the eve of a comrade's wedding? Riza is reassured that everything sacrificed for Roy Mustang's advancement is worth every moment with him.


Author's Note: I had a friend get married this weekend and this idea popped up. Set in the manga-verse, Jean Havoc has finally caught the woman of his dreams despite his handicap and everyone attends his wedding.

FMA – Shall We Dance?

The party was mostly over. Havoc had retreated with his new bride and had heartily thanked each member of his company. Everyone had cheered when the ex-soldier scooped up his partner and wheeled her out of the reception room perched in his lap. The woman who had managed to bring out the old optimistic Havoc had squealed and clung to his shoulders as he pushed his wheelchair down the ramp and into a waiting van that whisked them off to their honeymoon. For another hour, guests mingled, danced, and drank before gradually drifting off under the stars of the hotel's elegant patio.

The music played on through the speakers of the dance floor. Two couples were still shuffling, watched idly by Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Heymans Breda, Kain Fuery, and Vato Falman.

Riza shifted in her seat at one of the white-laced tables. The dark blue dress she had worn to the occasion was beginning to irritate her. The fabric was damply clinging to her shoulders and her legs due to the humidity of the early summer air. Thankfully her hair was pulled up and off of her neck in a more elaborate twist than her usual daily clip.

Breda sighed and leaned back in his chair to pick at his teeth. "I never would have thought I'd be here like this."

Falman raised an eyebrow at him. "That you'd see Havoc dressed in something other than a uniform?"

The shorter man snorted. "No, that Havoc would actually be able to hold on to a girl long enough to propose."

They all chuckled.

Roy unknotted his tie. "Who would have thought that getting injured was just the thing for him. If I had known I could have caught such a cute nurse, I might have dated Solaris myself."

Riza sipped water from the glass in front of her. "Sir, you _were_ injured."

Breda snickered, "The Colonel never had problems getting women – perhaps it was some sort of reverse psychology."

Roy's back straightened in indignation. "Hey!"

Breda only shrugged. "Well, you do still have a fan base at the hospital."

The Colonel raised an eyebrow. "That is true."

Falman hid a yawn behind one hand and stood. "Well, I think I'm off. I spent most of the morning on a stake-out."

They all nodded their farewells.

Roy slumped in his seat and watched the white-haired officer fade into the darkness beyond the patio's rustic pillars. "I wonder if that man has a woman of his own."

Fuery, who had been intently scribbling something on one of the napkins, looked up. "Of course he does – he's been seeing her for the past year. My guess is that he'll be the next to get married."

The others blinked in surprise. Fuery reddened at the combined stares and pushed his glasses up his nose. "Um, well, that would be a logical assumption. He's a warrant officer after all – not right in the line of fire like the rest of us."

Again Breda snorted, "So because we are the soldiers, our love lives will be shorter. I hope that means that they'll be sweeter as well."

Riza smiled silently to herself. Most of the reception had been spent listening to the others throwing post-marital sarcasm to and fro. She was surprised that Roy had chosen to attend without an escort. Usually he made a big show of who his latest catch was. Then again, she wondered if he had chosen to go stag as a kind of graceful bow-out to Havoc. The poor man had always taken the competition too personally.

She shifted again on the elegantly decorated but rather uncomfortable seat. The hour was getting late and she started planning an exit strategy.

Roy smirked at the other men, "Most things in life are short and sweet, but just remember that there are also some things to savor."

He stood and held out a hand to her. "Hawkeye, may I have a dance?"

She stared up at him, eyes wide and fixed first on his bare palm, then on his face and he smiled. There were a dozen reasons why she ought not to take that hand – one of the first being the people watching. They were fellow co-workers and all gaping in shock at the rather intimate request. A second reason was the remaining wedding guests. Who knew if any of them were their hidden enemies? Granted, they had not been targeted individually for some time now, but one could never be too cautious. Roy saw the hesitation in her face and a faint frown wrinkled his forehead. He ignored the others and took a step closer to her frozen figure.

"Hawkeye… just this once."

Though he was offering with a sort of off-handed gesture of favor, his intent stare was enough to make her hands want to shake. He smiled again - warm and confident. The smile steadied her nerves and she calmly took the outstretched hand.

"Due to the occasion, just this once."

She let him lead her out onto the nearly empty dance floor where he drew her in against his chest. With a tiny shake of her head, she steadied herself at a respectable distance, left hand pressed against his shoulder in its elegant black tuxedo. His eyes crinkled in good humor as the music changed to waltz.

"You looked beautiful tonight, Riza."

The others had come to the wedding in uniform, but Havoc had requested that his former Colonel and First Lieutenant be a part of the wedding party. Her dark blue dress fell to just above her ankles in silky folds. The high back hid what only they knew marred her skin yet the front panels crossed in a deep v-neck. She smirked at his compliment.

"Past tense, sir?"

He smoothly twirled her out and then back in, taking advantage of her momentum to again pull her firmly against him. "You always look lovely, I just particularly noticed your face during the ceremony."

She gently tried to renew the space between them, very aware of the curious eyes at the table behind them. Roy's hand pressed into her lower back, right where the scarring began. Startled, she looked up.

"I saw the strangest look on your face, Riza. It was like you were at a funeral, not a wedding." He was giving her that look. The look that cut through any excuses and knew the answer before she had the chance to hide it away. She hated and loved that look because it always spoke more than words ever could, but it was sometimes too honest.

"You were jealous of Havoc?"

They danced in silence for a moment, their feet sliding over the smooth slate patio. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the others trying to sneak away without being seen. A flash of annoyance mixed with relief at their attempts to allow them some privacy. Roy ignored them completely, lowering his voice and his head to her ear.

"You weren't jealous of Havoc himself, only what he had found. Do you think that you will never have a family, Riza? Do you think you are unloved?"

Her hand tightened in his. "Sir, I am glad for Jean. He deserves this after all that was taken from him. But we are soldiers, sir. Not many of us will have the opportunity – particularly those pushing you to the top."

The dance floor was completely empty and the music clicked off. Absently, Riza calculated in her head that it was probably somewhere around three in the morning. She took a breath to sigh and withdraw only to be interrupted.

"Riza, I don't want you or the others to sacrifice your personal lives for my sake."

She couldn't help smiling. It helped to know in some of the darkest moments of protecting this man's life, that despite his arrogance, the mooching up to the brass, that underneath it all was still the idealistic boy who took lessons from her father. What he wanted for the government required nothing less than everything his followers had to give. What he didn't seem to truly realize was their absolute faith in him that balanced out his demands.

She couldn't let him know that Havoc's case was most likely the one in five that would ever have a chance at a normal life. It would depress him for months if he knew that Breda went out to eat at a café after work, flirted with the staff, and returned home alone every evening. Fuery toyed with electronics in his dorm room. Falman, to her surprise, did have someone to go home to. And she went home, played with her dog, cleaned her guns, ate some food, and waited for it all to start anew.

She was content with that.

"Roy, it is what we do."

He put an end to their mock dancing and stood looking at her with that sharp black stare. She wasn't sure what he found in her eyes this time, but he gave a short nod of understanding. Still holding her hand, the pad of his thumb gently circled her palm in a hidden caress.

"Riza, I'm taking you to the top with me."

She smiled shakily. "I know sir."

The End

Author's Note: I'm just trying to get back into the feel of Roy/Riza. I also have this tickle of an idea for a Jean Havoc story due to the tragedy that happens to him in the Manga.

Weddings are always such happy, but awkward settings to me.


End file.
